A Meaningless Existence
by Minunlike
Summary: You may think that you are worth nothing. You may think that your life has no meaning...but it has meaning to me.
1. Chapter 1

He had always seemed like a troubled kid.

On the first day I saw him, the day he appeared out of the blue and asked my newfound friend out on a date, he appeared to be just a regular guy.

However, every day since then, I would see him there. Just outside the school, in that exact same spot. He wouldn't make another attempt to talk to anyone, and no one would talk to him. He would just...be there. With each passing day, he intrigued me more and more.

One day, however, I was heading home with Yukiko, that same friend. As we approached the gates, he appeared from around the corner.

"Hey, Yuki..."He said, in the same manner that he had before.

"Huh?" Yukiko replied, seemingly surprised.

"Y-You wanna hang out somewhere?" He asked, just as he had the first time. However, this time, I noticed a hint of desperation in his voice.

"I can't..." Yukiko's response was the same as well. Upon hearing it, all traces of hope vanished from the boy's face.

"Fine..." he said quietly, in stark contrast to the angry tone he had used last time. Sighing, he turned around and walked slowly away. I stood rooted to my spot and watched him as he left. Suddenly, something in my mind went off. Without realizing what I was doing, I turned to Yukiko, excused myself, and before I knew it, I was following him.

He was already quite far away, so I began to run after him. As I did so, I kept asking myself why I was doing this. I barely knew this guy, so why was I chasing him? I couldn't come up with a suitable answer, but somehow I felt compelled to do this. Finally catching up to him, I reached out and lightly tapped him on the shoulder. He whirled around, suddenly overjoyed.

"Changed your mind, Yuki? I knew you'd come around-" However, he stopped when he saw that it was not Yuki. With that realization, he quickly became angry. "What the hell do you want?" he asked, glaring at me.

"Why don't you hang out with me instead?" I said, making sure I sounded cheerful. All I recieved in response was a skeptical stare. Still determined, I smiled and offered him my hand. He simply stared at it with that same expression. After a while, though, he slowly reached out and took it.

I led him to a bench on the side of the road. Sitting down, I let go of his hand as he sat next to me.

I tried to think of a way to get a conversation started. "So...How's it going?" I asked, not being able to come up with anything else. He stared at the ground, saying nothing.

Not willing to give up, I tried my best to make small talk. I would bring up intresting points about the things that were going on around us. Other than the occasional amused or annoyed grunt, he did not respond.

After a while, I couldn't come up with anything else to say to him, so we ended up sitting there for quite a long time, completely silent. Every so often, he would glance at me, only to quickly look away when he saw that I had noticed. Other than that, I got no reaction out of him.

Feeling defeated, I finally rose from the bench and prepared to leave. Before I did, I decided to make one last attempt.

"Well, it was nice hanging out with you," I said, extending my hand for a handshake. "I'm Seta Souji." He didn't shake my hand. I didn't expect him to. I had offered it more out of courtesy than anything. "You know, I'm always around. You can come talk to me any time."

At this, he looked up at me with what appeared to be a look of surprise, then returned to his earlier indifferent disposition. "Sure, whatever..." he replied flatly. However, the annoyance in his voice seemed to have vanished. That was progress, although it wasn't much. Satisfied, I turned and headed for home. I would have to call Yukiko later and apologize for abandoning her.

"Hey..."

I turned around. He was looking at me again.

"What do you want from me, anyway?"

I smiled. "You looked like you could use a friend."

He gave me that same skeptical look.

It was late by this time, and I didn't want to have Dojima worrying about me. "Well, I'll see you around, uh..."

"Mitsuo."

I was surprised at his quick response. "Right. See you around, Mitsuo." I waved, then turned and once again started toward home.


	2. Chapter 2

In the days following that encounter, we somehow developed a routine. After school, on the days I was free, I would rush outside to the school gates, and he would be standing there, as he always did. I would motion for him to follow me, and he would do so without a word. We would sit at that same bench by the side of the road and...hang out. If you could call it that. Even though I tried hard to be friendly, he would always seem apprehensive around me. As if he didn't believe that I had any reason to associate with him.

Eventually, though, he did seem to open up a little. As he began to speak more and more, I noticed that he rarely had anything nice to say. About any subject.

"What do you think about this book that just came out?" I asked, holding my recently acquired copy of 'A Great Man'.

"It's stupid," he replied vehemently. "They think all men have to be strong, and clever, and fearless...and handsome..."

I quickly changed the subject. "I hear Junes received a new shipment of TVs. Looks like they've got the latest model, too."

"Yeah, so they can flaunt it around to people who don't have the money..."

"Hmph..." I was growing frustrated. "Nice...weather we're having?" I said awkwardly, despite the blanket of gray that loomed overhead. A bitter laugh was my response.

Losing my patience, I desperately racked my brain to find a subject that he was happy with. "So I was thinking of trying that new game I've heard about...what was it? Dragon Warrior, or something."

He perked up. "You mean Dragon Quest 9?"

"Yeah..." I was startled by his sudden enthusiasm. "Actually, it's already over half a year old..."

He was now fully absorbed in the conversation. "Well, I picked it up the day it was released. People are talking about how it sucks because it's different from the older games in the series. I mean, the older games were awesome, but so are the newer ones. They need to stop hating it just because it's different..." I listened as he went off on an animated rant. It was incredible, as if he had become a completely different person.

"...and you actually get to see the weapons and armor equipped on your character. Here, let me show you," After finishing his speech, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a DS. The screen flashed as he turned it on and started playing.

I watched with interest as he showed me every aspect of the game, describing it in detail and adding his own commentary. He showed me his characters, the battle system, and some of the story aspects, all the while stating his own opinions and offering suggestions for when I played the game myself. It amazed me that he could get so excited over something he cared about.

We were both completely absorbed in the game, and before I knew it, it was dark outside. Afraid of another lecture from Dojima about staying out too late, I hastily stood up and said goodbye before turning to leave.

"Wait."

I looked back at him.

"D-Do you think we could...hang out...more?" he said quietly, looking extremely uncomfortable.

I laughed. "Of course. Whenever you feel like it."

And as I turned back, I could swear I saw the slightest hint of a smile.


	3. Chapter 3

After that, our meetings were much more lively. I had bought my own copy of the game with the money I'd saved from my translating job, and we would spend countless hours playing together. Of course, he would always be the one calling the shots; I would just act as support. He would often get upset when I tried to give him advice, adamantly insisting that he knew what he was doing (and yelling at me when he failed time after time). However, none of that mattered. What mattered to me was that he was able to enjoy himself. He always seemed preoccupied with everything that he thought was wrong with the world, the horrible things that people were doing, or the things that he hated for seemingly no reason. But when the game started, he would forget about all of that. During the time we spent playing, he actually seemed...genuinely happy.

Then, he said something that I did not expect.

"Do you...wanna hang out at my house or something?"

This caught me off guard. Did he really hold me in such high regard that he would invite me over to his house? This was the first time I had received such an offer since moving to Inaba; not even Yosuke, who I believed to be my best friend, had made that offer.

"I mean, you don't have to, I don't really care..." He mumbled, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Sounds like fun." I answered.

This seemed to have caught him off guard. "Really?" he asked with astonishment before catching himself. "Alright, cool..." He slowly stood up and gathered his things.

I was led through the streets of Yasoinaba, past many blocks of houses, until we arrived at a particularly dark and shabby-looking building. I followed behind him as he opened the door and walked inside.

The house was silent, save for the dull whirring of a computer in the corner, which emitted a soft glow in the otherwise dark room. Even with so little light, I could see that the entire house was a mess. There were clothes and papers strewn about the place, and the tables were covered with trash.

"I'm home!" he shouted into the darkness. No one answered him.

He sighed as he carelessly threw his things to the side. "C'mon," he said as he made his way upstairs, kicking several empty cans as he did so. I followed, nearly tripping on a box of pocky.

We walked into a small room which I assumed to be his bedroom. Surprisingly, it was much cleaner than the rest of the house. I saw a small mound of papers in the corner, but other than that, this room was actually quite tidy. There was another computer here, as well as a small TV, and shelves upon shelves of games and gaming consoles, some of which I had never seen before.

He walked over and turned the TV on, then proceeded to sort through the vast assortment of games, taking a good deal of time before he finally picked one out. "This is Dragon Quest IV..." he said, presenting it to me as if it were some sort of trophy. "I mean, I've already beaten it twelve times, but it's still an awesome game." With that, he stuck it into one of the consoles and started it up, flopping down on the couch as the title screen appeared.

We were nearly silent as I watched him play the game. It seemed to be another one of those standard, medieval RPG-type games he spoke so fondly of. He didn't go into another long-winded rant about its supposed awesomeness, he just...played. Every so often I would ask a stupid question about the gameplay or the story, and he would give me a short and simple answer. The entire time, he did not turn his head even once. His eyes were glued to the screen, as if nothing else existed.

Soon, my mind began to wander toward other things. As I looked around the room, my sights fell upon the small stack of papers on the table next to me. Overcome by curiosity, I grabbed the stack, discovering that the papers had been crudely stapled together, making a book of sorts. I flipped through it with growing interest.

It was one of the most amazing things I'd ever seen.

It looked like some sort of manga. The artwork was impressive; not professional quality, but still pretty damn good. The story featured a noble, valiant knight, known only as "Mr. Hero", on his quest to rid the land of evil and rescue a beautiful princess. He was praised by many for his selfless deeds, and his dashing good looks won him many admirers. There were many names that I knew I had heard before. For example, there was a corrupt and evil prince who went by the name of "Satonaka". The young princess also looked very familiar...I flipped back to the front page.

The title read "Mitsuo the Hero".

Now that I thought about it, the knight did look a lot like Mitsuo, albeit a more idealized version of him. And that man standing next to him looked a lot like...

"I'm kinda bored, you wanna play something else?" His question snapped me out of my thoughts. He was looking at me now. "We could play Street Fighter II Turbo or something-" His eyes went wide when he saw the papers in my hand. "Wh-Where the hell did you find that!" he demanded, snatching them away from me.

"It was sitting on the table..." I replied sheepishly, seeing his anger. He was now staring at the floor, blushing furiously. I sat awkwardly, suddenly feeling guilty about going through his things. Still, I didn't understand why he was so upset. "It's really-"

"It's nothing!" he sharply interrupted.

"But it's-"

"I said it's nothing!" he nearly shouted.

"It's nice."

He slowly looked up at me. "What?"

"It's really good," I repeated. "The artwork is really nice. I like it."

There was that skeptical stare again.

"Why would you want to hide this from me?"

He didn't respond right away. However, he didn't seem to be angry anymore. After a while, he let out a heavy sigh. "Because...I thought you wouldn't care..."

"Why not?" I asked, confused. "It's quality stuff. The attention to detail is remarkable!" I flipped through it again to emphasize my point. "You must spend a lot of time on something like this."

"Yeah," he said, sighing again. "A lot of time..."

"Do you have any more of these lying around?" I asked eagerly.

He seemed surprised at my enthusiasm. "Y-Yeah, a couple..." he replied, standing up and walking to the desk that his computer was seated on. Opening one of the drawers, he pulled out a bunch of papers, then walked back and handed them to me.

I was now completely distracted by the drawings. I went through them slowly, taking in the detail of each one.

"They're not really all that special..." he kept saying. However, the tone of his voice suggested that he really enjoyed the praise.

"Do you mind if I take some of these with me?"

"Huh?" He appeared to be in disbelief. "Sure, if you want."

After that, we played a few random fighting games until I decided it was time to leave. I said my goodbyes and headed home (after nearly tripping on the same box of pocky). On the way, I decided that tomorrow I would show my friends some of the drawings I had taken. Chie probably wouldn't approve of being the "evil prince", but I was confident that she wouldn't take it too badly. Besides, it wasn't as if Yosuke hadn't drawn more demonizing caricatures of her.

I wore a huge smile on my face as Nanako greeted me at the door.


	4. Chapter 4

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_***"Wahahahahahaha!**"_

_*An enemy has appeared!_

Command?

Attack  
_**-**_Flee

**_*"How dare you mess with me for being a bad orange!"_**

_*The enemy attacked before you were ready!_

_***"I'll make a worthless human like you taste endless pain!"**_

A punch in the stomach.

_*Critical Hit!_

A blow to the head.

_*Punishing Hit!_

You fall to the ground.

There is blood everywhere.

Your vision is fading...

...

_*Mitsuo has been knocked out..._

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* * *

"Hey, get back here! Don't think you'll get away that easy!"

I watched with amusement as Chie chased Yosuke around in a circle. I had shown her the picture of evil Prince Satonaka, and, as expected, she had not taken too kindly to it. Of course, Yosuke then took the opportunity to draw a "more accurate" picture of her. As a gorilla. He certainly wouldn't be coming away from this without a few bruises.

Diverting my attention away from the chaos, I took the time to read through the comics again.

Hmm...

Now that I thought about it, there were a lot of familiar elements in these comics, even more than I had noticed initially. For example, the titular hero always seemed to be getting into fights with gangs...Mitsuo was always talking about biker gangs, and how "insecure" they were. Also, the hero had to rescue the princess from the evil "King Moron". King Moron...Mr. Morooka? Mitsuo hated the man. Even the mere mention of his name would would cause him to deteriorate until his words were a mess of unintelligible rage.

What disturbed me even more, though, were the fates of these villains. While the deaths of minor characters were frequently glossed over, these villains were often...brutally killed. An amazing amount of detail seemed to go into the blood and gore that accompanied their death, and it was often unusually drawn out. It worried me a little, but I decided not to think about it too much. After all, everyone seemed to have a problem with the local biker gangs, and I had already seen countless death threats directed at Morooka.

Bringing myself out of my thoughts, I realized that the time had gotten away from me. I hastily stood and said farewell to my friends, who were still preoccupied with their own little quarrel. Yosuke stopped and waved before being barreled over by Chie. Smiling, I left them to their antics.

I stopped at the school gates, expecting him to be there. He wasn't.

I was concerned now. _It's okay,_ I thought to myself. _He's probably already waiting for me._

With this in mind, I made my way toward the bench that served as our hangout. However, it was empty.

Finding nothing else to do, I sat and waited. It seemed like hours had passed before I saw someone in the distance.

There he was.

...Why was he holding his arm like that?

I watched as he slowly made his way over to me and plopped down on the bench. "Hey, where've you been? I was worried about you."

"Don't be!" he shot back. I looked at him. He seemed pretty beat up; he was holding his arm as if it were broken or something, and he was bleeding in several places. And yet he expected me to ignore all of that.

"What happened to you?"

"Nothing," he replied hastily. "Some random biker guy was harassing me, but I took care of him."

I gave him an incredulous look. "Looks like he gave you a hard time. And what do you mean, you 'took care' of him?"

He looked deeply offended. "It's true! I scared them off! And then I...I fell down some stairs! Yeah, that's it." It didn't take a genius to tell that he was lying.

Wait a minute...'them'?

"So there was more than one?"

He seemed to realize that he had let it slip. "N-no!" he stammered. "T-That's not...I mean-" He interrupted himself as he winced in pain.

I sighed. It was obvious that I wasn't getting any more information out of him. "Here, let me help you," I said, reaching my hand out to him.

He shrank back. "Don't touch me!"

I reached out again. "Look, you're really beat up. You need medical attention."

"Stop it!" he shouted, swatting my hand away. "I'm not five years old, I can take care of myself!"

I was persistent. I kept trying to offer him help, but he wouldn't allow it.

"Please let me help."

"No!"

"I'm just trying to help you."

"I said no!"

"It's for your own good-"

Suddenly, I felt a blow to the side of my head. Before I knew what happened, I was on the ground. I lay there, stunned, then slowly brought a hand to my head. Taking it away, I looked at it. It was covered with blood. My own blood.

Still bewildered by the sudden blow, I slowly looked up. He was standing over me, breathing heavily, his hand still balled into a fist. He stared down at me for a good moment or two, then turned around and ran. I could still hear his footsteps as everything began to go dark...


	5. Chapter 5

Things were not the same after that.

After Dojima had found me semi-conscious and bleeding on the ground, he took me home and bandaged me up, after which he subjected me to intensive questioning. He spent hours asking different variants of the same questions, like where I was going after school, who I was talking to, and why the hell he came from work to find me lying in the street. Meanwhile, he took every opportunity to remind me to thank God I wasn't seriously hurt, or even worse.

"It's okay, I just tripped and fell on my head," I told him, chuckling softly at the irony of the situation.

He gave me a weird look. "Are you sure? If someone is harassing you, you need to tell me."

"No, no one's harassing me," I insisted. Dojima opened his mouth to speak again, but Nanako had appeared beside us, and he was forced to leave it at that.

Mitsuo and I still met up occasionally, but he had again resigned himself to silence. Not even the mention of his JRPGs would get him to speak. If I was lucky, I might get a glance in my direction, or maybe an exasperated sigh, but nothing else. Pretty soon, I gave up and stopped trying. We now spent all of our time together in silence, neither one of us willing to say anything to the other.

So why did he keep coming back?

Finally, after many days, I couldn't stand it any longer. I had to say something. So I asked a question that had been on my mind for a long time.

"Why did you punch me?"

His reply was simple. "Because I hate you."

I was shocked. "What?"

"You heard me," he said flatly. "I hate you. You're just a loser." His words lacked any traces of emotion. "Just like everyone else..."

I stared dumbly at him. Why was he saying things like this all of a sudden?

"Is that really what you think?"

I waited for him to answer. He didn't.

I sighed. "...I see."

I made a move to stand up. It was useless to stay here any longer if he was just going to be like this. Without saying a word, I gathered my things and walked away.

Suddenly, I heard a small voice.

"...W-Where are you going...?"

I turned around. He was now facing me.

"Aren't you going to yell at me?" he asked quietly. "Aren't you going to beat me up for calling you a loser?"

"No," I replied. "I can see that I'm just annoying you. I'll try not to do that anymore." With that, I turned to leave again.

"Y-You're not supposed to say that!"

I could hear him stand up.

"You're supposed to scream at me! You're supposed to kick the crap out of me!" There was emotion in his voice now, as he kept growing louder and more hysterical.

I didn't turn around. "I'm not going to do that."

"Well, you're not supposed to just _leave_!"

I tried to act unfazed, but it was difficult. "I'll leave you alone now. Maybe we can talk again once you've sorted things out."

I began to walk away again. The voices in my mind kept screaming at me to stop, but I ignored them.

...

* * *

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...

_***"I can see that I'm just annoying you. I'll try not to do that anymore."**_

...

**_*"I'll leave you alone now. Maybe we can talk again once you've sorted things out."_**

_*Souji left the party._

...

Alone...

...

_*Mitsuo has become confused._

...

Alone...

No...

_*Thy Sadness has gone up by 2._

N...No...

_*Thy Sadness has gone up by 3._

No...N...Noooo...

_*Thy Sadness has gone up by 5._

Nnooo...

...

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	6. Chapter 6

He never did come back to talk to me. He just...disappeared.

I would check the school gates every day, and he would never be there. I would go to the bench by the side of the road, and he would not be waiting for me. Despite this, I would sit there, clinging to the hope that he might just show up out of the blue. But he never did. Soon, I abandoned that hope and stopped coming.

I always wondered what the reason was for his actions on that day. Maybe he really did hate me...I could never really tell what he was thinking.

In the weeks that followed, I thought about him less and less. The frequent misadventures my friends and I kept getting into served as a constant distraction. Occasionally, however, my thoughts would wander, and I would start to wonder where he was and what he was doing at that moment. Soon after, though, something would come up that that would cause me to forget about these thoughts.

It went on like this...until one night. I was leaving the Chinese Diner Aiya after another fruitless attempt at their "Rainy Day Challenge", and I was trying to hurry home before the rain got heavy. It was late, and most everyone had already cleared out of the Shopping District. However, in the distance, I could see a figure in front of me. It looked familiar...I approached it to get a closer look.

It was him.

It looked like he had been in another fight. However, where last time the worst of his injuries was an almost-broken arm, this time it looked like he could barely stand. I quickened my pace and ran up to him. He seemed to notice my approach, and turned to face me. The look in his eyes contained...nothing.

"What happened?" I asked with concern. "Did you get into another fight?" The expression on his face did not change.

After a moment of awkward silence, I spoke up. "It's late. Come with me, you can stay at my house tonight," I said, extending my hand. "Can you walk?" He nodded, but did not take my hand. At the time, it did not even cross my mind what Dojima would think when I came home with a random stranger who looked like he had been beaten within an inch of his life.

I walked slowly home, stopping frequently to make sure he was following. Every so often, he would fall down, and I would have to help him up. I found it odd that he made absolutely no effort to resist my help. There was virtually no trace of his former indignant self in his actions.

As I opened the front door, I found only Nanako there to greet me.

"Dad's working late again tonight," she informed me, before giving Mitsuo a concerned look. "Is he going to be okay?"

"It's all right, I'm helping him out," I replied. "He'll be staying here just for tonight, I promise." Nanako simply nodded.

I took his hand and led him into my bedroom. I told him to sit down on the couch while I made preparations for him.

"I hope you understand this," I said as I set up an extra futon. "I'm going to help you, even if you hate me for it." I went and retrieved the medical supplies, then proceeded to patch him up. The whole time, he just stared at the wall, the same blank expression on his face. Thankfully, most of his injuries didn't seem too serious.

After I was finished, I sat down next to him. "Why do you do these things?" I asked, hoping I sounded serious enough. "Getting into fights when you know you'll just end up getting seriously hurt?"

He did not respond.

"Do you think it's cool? Do you think you'll be cool if you go around instigating fights with dangerous people?" That question sounded angrier than I intended.

Still no response. He was now staring at the floor.

"Well, it's not cool. It's just stupid!" This time, my anger was intentional.

This time, his expression seemed to change slightly...

...

* * *

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**_*"Stupid!"_**

_*Critical Hit!_

**_*"Stupid!"_**

_*Critical Hit!_

_***"STUPID!"**_

_*Critical Hit!_

You fall to the ground.

**_*"You think you can just do whatever you want when I'm not around and think I won't have a problem with it, huh?"_**

He waves a paper in front of your face.

**_*"You see this?"_**

It's your test from last week.

**_*"THIS is a testament to how stupid you really are!"_**

He crumples it up and throws it at you.

**_*"You should consider yourself lucky that I'm even willing to put up with you!"_**

He slaps you.

**_*"Don't expect me to dote on you just because your good-for-nothing parents decided to dump you on me!"_**

He slaps you again.

You watch through your tears as he leaves the room...

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* * *

"Mitsuo!"

He jumped.

"Were you even listening to me?"

"Don't get into fights, don't be stupid..." he said. His voice was nearly a whisper. "What does it matter..."

I looked at him for a moment, then stood up. "In any case, we should probably be getting to bed. It's late," I said as I made up my futon. He said nothing as he stood and got into his.

"Good night," I said as I drifted off to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

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You walk down the empty street.

...

You arrive at your house.

*_Mitsuo used House Key_.

The door opens.

...

**_*"Where the hell have you been?"_**

_*Morooka appeared!_

**_*"I thought I told you to be back at 8 o' clock sharp!_"**

_***"You think you don't have to listen to me, huh?"**_

_***"I guess I'll have to teach you a little respect!"**_

_*The enemy attacked before you were ready!_

_*Critical Hit!_

_*Morooka attacks!_

_*Punishing Hit!_

The impact throws you to the wall.

**_*"You think I like dealing with your crap?"_**

_*Critical Hit!_

**_*"I have enough bratty children to deal with every day!"_**

_*Critical Hit!_

**_*"But at least they have some brains!"_**

_*Critical Hit!_

**_*"You're worse than they are!"_**

_*Critical Hit!_

**_*"You're not worth anything!"_**

_*Critical Hit!_

...

The assault has ended.

...

He has turned his back to you.

He is muttering to himself.

...

_*Mitsuo searches the area._

...

_*Finds the Baseball Bat._

_*Mitsuo equips the Baseball Bat._

...

You stand up.

You sneak up behind him.

...

Command?

-Kill  
Flee

_*Mitsuo attacks!_

_*Preemptive Strike!_

You have taken him by surprise.

He falls to the ground.

He is looking up at you.

There is fear in his eyes...

...

Command?

-Kill   
Flee

_*Mitsuo attacks!_

He yells at you to stop.

He is begging for forgiveness.

...

Command?

-Kill   
Flee

_*Mitsuo attacks!_

No...

_*Mitsuo attacks!_

_*Critical Hit!_

It's too late for forgiveness...

_*Mitsuo attacks!_

_*Critical Hit!_

You took away everything...

_*Mitsuo attacks!_

_*Critical Hit!_

And made me nothing...

_*Mitsuo attacks!_

_*Critical Hit!_

I'll make a worthless human like you...

_*Mitsuo attacks!_

_*Critical Hit!_

...taste endless pain...

_*Mitsuo attacks!_

_*Punishing Hit!_

...

He is silent.

...

_*Thou hast done well in killing Morooka._

...

_*Mitsuo has advanced to the next level!_

_*Thy Attention increases by 16._  
_*Thy Fame increases by 17._  
_*Thy Coolness increases by 3._

...

You hear a voice.

_*"Ah, the hero Mitsuo. Thou hast done well!"_

You hear the praise you've always wanted.

It's all you ever wanted.

You indulge in its glory.

_*"You're..."_

It stops suddenly.

No, please don't stop.

_*"Yyyyyyooooouuuuu'''rrreeee..."_

Please don't stop...

Come back...

The voice dissipates.

You look around you.

There is trash everywhere.

And in front of you, the body of the man you so fiercely despised.

The man who tortured you.

The man who belittled you.

The man who _took care of you._

...

And then, it dawns on you.

You destroyed him.

The one thing you had.

And you destroyed it.

Now you don't have anything.

...

I...don't have anything...

...

...

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	8. Chapter 8

Morooka was dead.

I mulled over this news in my head as I sat in Junes' food court. I knew that the man wasn't exactly everyone's favorite teacher, but I couldn't imagine who would do something like this. I, personally, had mixed feelings about him. I didn't know whether to be delighted or shocked that he was dead. Right now, though, I didn't feel much of anything.

I could hear my friends speculating the situation surrounding his death, but I was barely listening. I found it somewhat amusing that they were expressing such pity toward someone they were bad-mouthing and joking about just yesterday.

This was the third murder that had occurred since my coming to Inaba. Lately, it seemed that someone was targeting people who had recently appeared on television and murdering them...by throwing them into the TV World. My friends and I had taken it upon ourselves to investigate these occurrences and try to prevent more lives from being taken, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. Aside from the first two victims, several others had been targeted, but we had managed to rescue them. We thought we had had a solid lead, but with the death of Morooka, we were back to square one. Now...there was the suggestion that we just give up, that we step aside and let the police handle it.

Things were quickly getting out of hand. As my mind began to wander, I wondered what Mitsuo would have to say about this. ("Morooka? I'm glad he's dead. I would've killed him myself if I'd gotten the chance.")

I sighed. He most likely wasn't concerned with my problems. In fact, he probably wanted nothing to do with me. Suddenly, I began to feel very guilty. I wished I could go back in time and undo whatever it was that I'd done that had caused him to hate me so much. But what was it?

"Senpai!"

Kanji's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I shook my head. What was I doing, thinking about Mitsuo at a time like this?

I looked around at all of my teammates. Each of them wore a discouraged expression on their faces. It looked like they were ready to give up and abandon everything.

Acting on impulse, I shot up.

"...It's too early to give up now!"

They all looked at me as I sat back down. Gradually, their dismal expressions changed into more hopeful ones, followed by a "Damn straight!" from Kanji. They began a more enthusiastic conversation, but my mind had once again drifted elsewhere.

I would have to find Mitsuo and apologize to him. I had no idea what for, but I thought it might improve things between us. And perhaps...I could find out what was happening to him.


	9. Chapter 9

It was late. Again.

I raced through the darkened streets of the Shopping District, eager to get home quickly and avoid Dojima's anger. Once again, the time had gotten away from me. How I managed to spend an entire day trying to turn a simple crank was beyond my understanding.

My lungs were beginning to burn from the effort of running, forcing me to stop and catch my breath. Aside from my panting, the area was eerily quiet. Suddenly, my ears picked up a distant sound. Straining to hear, I could make out a voice.

"...It's...all my fault..."

It sounded like the voice of a human male. My curiosity began to override my fear of punishment, and I found myself following the noise.

"...They're gone..."

The words he was saying were beginning to disturb me. What did they mean?

"...It was me..."

I was afraid, but my body forced me to continue onward.

"I did it..."

What did he do?

"...I killed him..."

Finally, I reached the source of the noise.

I went cold.

Mitsuo was standing there, muttering to himself. To say that he looked a wreck would be quite an understatement. It was as if he had just witnessed somebody explode right in front of him. Despite the volume of my heavy breathing against the silence, he didn't seem to notice my presence. Concerned and confused, I walked up to him. I was now right next to him, but still he did not see me. I reached out and tapped him on the arm. The sudden contact made him jump, and he jerked around in my direction.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. It was the first of a long list of questions I had for him.

He didn't answer me. He just looked at me for a second before turning away and resuming his muttering.

"Hey!" I raised my voice. He continued to ignore me. Frustrated, I made repeated attempts to get his attention, but to no avail. I was at the end of my rope. Letting my frustration take over, I grabbed him and spun him around.

"Why do I keep finding you out here by yourself? Are you asking to be beaten around?" I quite nearly shouted at him, pulling him toward me by his shirt collar. I held him there for a while until I heard his barely audible reply.

"I'm here because...it's my fault..."

This confused me. Having calmed down a little, I let go of his shirt. "What do you mean?"

"...I killed him..."

I didn't understand. What was he talking about?

"...I killed him..."

Wait a minute...Did he mean...Morooka?

He had already established that he hated Morooka. He always talked about how much he loathed the man, how much he...wanted him dead. Was it possible...that he felt responsible for Morooka's death?

I stared dumbly at him as he repeated that single phrase over and over again. Then, the all-too-familiar feeling of guilt washed over me. I was supposed to be helping people, and yet I kept letting my anger get the better of me.

"Mitsuo...It's not your fault..." I said weakly. He looked at me.

"But I did it..." he replied. "I killed him..."

"It's not your fault," I repeated.

"Yes it is..."

"It isn't," I said firmly. "There was nothing you could have done."

Suddenly, he broke down.

I watched helplessly as he stood there, crying. I had no idea that the death of the man he hated would affect him so much. I cursed myself for being so useless. There were lives at stake here, and I kept letting more of them slip away. I wanted it to stop.

I grabbed Mitsuo roughly. He let out a cry of surprise before I pulled him close to me, hugging him tightly. He continued to cry into my shoulder. I repeated that it wasn't his fault, but that only seemed to make him cry harder, so I stopped talking.

After a while, his crying subsided, and he seemed to have regained his composure. Seeing this, I slowly let go of him.

"Would you like me to walk home with you?" I asked gently. There were still so many questions I wanted answered, but it would do neither of us any good to ask them now.

He shook his head vigorously. I watched him as he turned and walked away, disappearing into the night. I started to make my way home as well, no longer worried about facing an angry Dojima.

I was more determined than ever to get to the bottom of this case, so that no one would have to suffer anymore.


	10. Chapter 10

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...

_"That's right. I did it."_

The officer is staring at you.

_***"So you're saying you're the one responsible for the murder of Kinshiro Morooka?"**_

You sigh in frustration.

_"Yes! How many times do I have to repeat it?"_

The officer gives you a strange look.

_***"...I see."**_

Is that all he has to say?

He looks around frantically before his eyes fall upon another young officer.

_***"Adachi, you think you can take care of this kid?"**_

The younger officer turns around. He looks pretty cheerful for a policeman.

_***"Sure thing, Dojima-san!"**_

The two officers exchange information. The whole time, the younger one has a big, fat grin plastered on his face.

You'd think he was going to get himself some coffee or something instead of dealing with a wanted criminal.

...

You are led to a small room. There is a TV in the corner.

The officer sits down, and invites you to do the same. You do so.

...

_***"So you're saying you're the one who killed Morooka?"**_

You want to sock him in the face.

_"Yes."_

He looks amused.

_***"Now why would you do something like that?"**_

Is this guy for real?

_"Because I hated him. I hate everybody!"_

You're confused. The officer should be yelling at you, calling you a miserable piece of trash. Instead, he's smiling like an idiot, and he keeps glancing at the TV.

You'll give him something to smile about.

_"...You know that announcer and that Konishi girl?"_

He raises an eyebrow in interest.

_"...I killed them too."_

He doesn't seem surprised.

Why isn't he surprised?

_***"Did you, now?"**_

What the hell is this guy's problem?

_"Yes, I did it! It was all my idea!"_

He's not even looking at you. He's looking at that stupid TV!

_***"Are you sure about that?"**_

_"YES!"_

FOR THE THOUSANDTH TIME, IT WAS ME!

IT WAS _ME!_

CAN'T YOU GET THAT THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULL?

_STOP LOOKING AT THE FUCKING TV! LOOK AT ME!_

_LOOK! AT! __**ME!**_

...

_***"Will you excuse me for a minute?"**_

He gets up and leaves.

...

...

Why won't anyone believe me?

Is murder not good enough for them?

What the hell does it take to get them to notice me?

...

Why won't anybody notice me?

_Why won't they notice me?_

_**Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?**_

...

Suddenly, darkness.

You can't see anything.

...

You feel yourself being roughly grabbed.

You struggle, but it does no good.

...

You are being dragged.

Then, you are thrown with great force.

You expect to hit the ground, but...you don't.

You are falling.

Falling...

Falling...

You hit the ground.

Pain shoots through your entire body.

Then...

...

Nothing.

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	11. Chapter 11

Never before in my entire life had I been as stressed out as I was during July's exam week.

The case wasn't going anywhere; we had absolutely no leads. The last thing I needed was the stress of exams to add to my mounting frustration. Nevertheless, I did my best to study diligently.

The exams were hard, but I was confident in my knowledge. I managed to come away with an exceptionally high score, which was certainly more than could be said of Kanji and Rise. I didn't blame them, though. Neither of them were adapted to the "high school scene".

With everything that had been going on lately, I was grateful that my friends were here to support me. Somehow, they managed to make me forget about the problems that constantly loomed over me. It was just as well, because Mitsuo had not shown up at all since that night after Morooka's death. Even if he were here, he definitely wouldn't be the person to talk to about murder.

I was relieved that exams were over, and summer vacation was almost here. It would certainly give us more time to get to the bottom of the murder case. It was important that we solve the mystery as fast as possible. However, before we could do anything, we would have to wait for the next victim to appear.

Monday night, I raided the refrigerator for anything that caught my eye. Looking thoroughly, I found a cup of barley tea, most likely left there by Dojima. Throwing caution to the wind, I drank it, only to find that what was in that cup was definitely not barley tea. Nonetheless, it was delicious, so I quickly downed the stuff. Feeling tired, I decided to retire for the night.

I was in the process of making my futon when I noticed the soft pitter-patter of rain. Through my fatigue, I tried to recall what that meant. Rain...I knew rain meant something.

...

Of course. Rain signified that I should check the Midnight channel for the next victim.

I walked over to the couch and grabbed the TV remote. Not bothering to sit down, I pressed the button to turn on the TV.

At first, there was nothing but static. However, the image slowly became clearer on the screen. The person in the image was...

...

No way...

Mitsuo's image was displayed vividly on the screen. He had his back to the wall. The area surrounding him seemed to be made of...Legos, or something like that. It reminded me of the games he always talked about. He remained silent for a good while before finally opening his mouth to speak.

"You all think you can see me...?"

I could definitely see him. That question seemed somewhat redundant.

"You all think you know everything about me...?"

What was he trying to say?

Another moment of silence. In that moment, it seemed that his image was staring directly at me. That stare seemed somehow...pleading. It vanished quickly, though.

Suddenly, a small smile appeared on his face.

"...Then _try and catch me_."

The image faded back into static. I stared blankly at the screen.

...What did that mean?

What was he even doing in there? I knew that no normal person could go inside the TV. That meant he either had to be a victim, or...

No.

I refused to believe it.

My thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of my cell phone. Upon answering it, I heard Yosuke's voice on the other end.

"Hey, did you see that?"

I did see it.

"Who was that guy? I don't know him..."

It occurred to me that I had never really talked about Mitsuo around the others. All they saw of him were the comics that I had shown them.

"He looked really gloomy...like a zombie..."

I couldn't deny that. I had seen him looking sad before, but this was different. He looked as if he had given up on everything. He almost looked...suicidal.

I heard Teddie in the background. Yosuke relinquished the phone to him.

I listened as Teddie explained the situation to me. Apparently, the Midnight Channel was showing the suppressed emotions of the people who were trapped inside.

...Were those really Mitsuo's suppressed emotions?

Had he really given up on life?

Teddie wanted to know what our course of action should be. I didn't know what to tell him. I wanted to go in there and find out what was going on right then and there, but prior experience had taught me that being so rash wasn't in anyone's best interest.

"We need to come up with a plan first."

"Gotcha! I knew I could count on you, Sensei!" Teddie's cheerful response made me feel a little better. It was good that he could be so optimistic about this whole situation. One of us had to be, and it certainly wasn't going to be me.

I talked with Yosuke again before hanging up. Chie called almost immediately afterward, and I recapped the conversation to her. She agreed that we should get to the bottom of the case, after which she headed off to bed. I figured I might as well try to get some sleep as well. I returned to my futon and settled down in it. In the silence of my room, I let out a sigh.

What had I gotten myself into?


	12. Chapter 12

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...

You are slowly coming to.

...

You sit up. Looking around, you realize that you don't know where you are. The area looks like it's made of...pixels. It reminds you of the Tower of Owen from Final Fantasy III, or maybe one of the temples from Zelda II...

...What happened to you? How did you end up here?

You struggle to remember. You were at the station, and then...some overly happy guy was talking to you...then, everything went dark...

_***"Ah, you're awake."**_

A voice interrupts your train of thought.

Someone is looking down at you.

_***"You've been asleep for a while."**_

He helps you up off of the ground.

You look him over. He is dressed in knight's armor. It makes him seem like a very imposing person, though you can't help but stifle a laugh upon seeing his goofy pink helmet.

You can't stop looking at him. He actually looks rather...handsome. You want to tell him so, but something stops you.

_"Who are you?"_

He smiles.

_***"I am the hero Mitsuo."**_

...What?

You're pretty sure that you are Mitsuo.

Who is this guy, and why is he using your name? You want to ask him, but right now your primary concern is getting the hell out of here.

_"So what do you want with me?"_

He comes closer.

_***"I'm here to take you away from this place."**_

He extends a hand toward you.

You don't trust him. However, the surrounding area has a strange and unsettling aura about it. Something tells you that trying to find your way out alone isn't a good idea. Reluctantly, you take his hand.

He leads you through the winding halls of the dungeon-like structure. The place is eerily quiet, and both of you are silent as you continue on.

Suddenly, he breaks the silence.

_***"I understand that a lot of people are trying to hurt you."**_

You give him a strange look. He doesn't seem to notice.

_***"You don't need to worry anymore. It is my duty to protect others from harm."**_

He turns to face you.

_***"So if anyone comes after you, I'll protect you."**_

You feel ridiculous. Does he really think you're that helpless?

Well, he can think what he wants. Right now, you just want to leave.

_***"After all...that is what you sent me to do."**_

You stop.

_"W-What do you mean?"_

He chuckles softly.

_***"You wished for someone to protect you from the outside world. That is why I am here."**_

...What is he saying?

_"I don't need you to protect me!"_

He seems taken aback.

_***"Are you sure?"**_

You really want to hit him, even though you would only hurt yourself in the process.

_"I'm not a baby! I'm not helpless, so stop treating me like I am!"_

He is silent for a moment before he speaks again.

_***"...Very well. But just remember that I am not here solely to protect you from everything in the outside world..."**_

You listen as he spouts his nonsense.

_***"...I am here to protect you from yourself."**_

You go cold.

_"From...myself?"_

He goes on as if he did not hear you.

_***"However, if you think you are ready to handle the truth, then I suppose there's nothing I can do."**_

With that, he turns and walks away.

You stare after him as he leaves.

...

Suddenly, you realize that you have no way out.

_"Hey, wait!"_

You shout after him.

No response.

You're trapped.

You continue to shout after him, even though you know it won't do any good.

You shout until your voice is hoarse. Tired, you crumple to the ground.

You are alone.

Again.

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	13. Chapter 13

We needed evidence.

The team had held a meeting after Mitsuo's appearance on TV. After considering all of the recent circumstances, they had unanimously declared that Mitsuo was the suspect that we were looking for. It pained me to witness the seething rage that Kanji had reserved for him.

I didn't want to believe that Mitsuo was the killer. However, in light of everything that happened, I couldn't deny the possibility. I...just didn't know what to think anymore.

Regardless, I needed to collect information for Rise so that we could track him down and rescue him. Then, I would be able to ask him the things that I wanted to know.

Unfortunately, I was unable to contribute any information. I was amazed at how little I knew about Mitsuo considering the time we had spent together. What little I did know wouldn't help us much.

Kanji suggested I ask Dojima for information regarding the case.

"He's your uncle, right? Maybe he'd tell you something." Somehow, I didn't think that would happen.

Of course, Dojima refused to say a word about the case, which didn't surprise me a bit.

After some aimless wandering, I came upon Junes. To my surprise, I saw Adachi standing in the corner, mumbling to himself. I approached him, thinking maybe he knew something.

"Hm? Clues to catch the suspect?"

I nodded.

"If I tell you, will you keep quiet?"

I agreed. He looked around to make sure no one else was listening before speaking in a hushed whisper.

"He supposedly had a part-time job in the Shopping District."

I thanked him and was gone before he could say much else. I did hear him shout after me not to tell Dojima that he was here. Since he did give me some helpful information, I decided to honor his request.

I combed the Shopping District, stopping at every shop to ask the owner about any part-time workers. Most of the stores I visited insisted that they didn't hire part-time help, however.

I continued on without luck until I came to Souzai Daigaku, the "University of Side Dishes". I asked the woman at the counter the same question I'd been asking all day. She responded with surprise.

"W-Where'd you hear that? I told him not to tell anyone..."

He certainly hadn't told me. Regardless, it seemed like I had found the right place.

"...Anyway. Yes, he did work here for a short time. But that was a while ago."

I wondered exactly how long he'd been working here, and why this woman wouldn't want him to tell anybody about it. I listened as she reminisced about his time there.

"He said the person who worked here before him was his classmate during middle school..."

That caught my attention.

"I see that kid-his classmate-around here sometimes. Maybe you should talk to him when you see him."

It was fortunate that I'd come upon this information. I thanked the woman and started to leave.

"I don't know if you'll find him today," she called after me, "but he recently dyed his hair golden-brown, so he should be easy to spot."

I thanked her again as I left to resume my search.

I went back to the south part of the Shopping District, searching for anyone whose hair stood out. Then, in front of the Shiroku store, I saw someone who matched the woman's description. I approached the boy.

"Hm? You want to see my yearbook?"

He took out his yearbook and flipped through the pages, casually pointing out his friends and talking about how much his school "sucks". I interrupted him to ask about Mitsuo.

"Oh, are you looking for...him?" he asked me. "You wanna see his picture? You do, don't you?"

I nodded.

He gave me a huge grin. "Well, today's your lucky day, because me and my friends are going around showing it to everybody!" He took out the photo and handed it to me. "Want a copy?"

I took the picture from the boy and examined it. The person in the picture was indeed Mitsuo, and in it he was smiling vacantly. The boy had already begun to leave, but there was still something I wanted to know. I shouted after him, and he turned to face me with a questioning look.

I pointed to the picture. "Did you...know him?"

Suddenly, he had a guilty expression on his face. He looked around the area, as if somebody were watching him, then spoke. "Promise you won't tell anyone I said this, okay?" he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

I agreed, after which he let out a sigh.

"Yeah, we were friends, a long time ago. We used to go to the same school, and he would always be by himself. I thought it was pretty sad, so I would go and talk to him once in a while, and he turned out to be pretty cool. He had some neat stuff lying around his house, and he was actually pretty nice." The boy closed his eyes for a moment, as though he were experiencing a pleasant memory. "That is, until he started getting angry at everything."

That piqued my curiosity. I listened intently as he went on.

"He would start ranting about stupid stuff like the economy and the police and other stuff I didn't care about, but I stuck around out of pity. My other friends were always like 'Why do you hang out with that freak?' and eventually they just stopped talking to me. Soon, he was coming up with the weirdest excuses to be around me all the time. And then..."

He looked around again.

"...You swear you won't tell anybody?"

I nodded.

"...He tried to kiss me."

I was shocked. I had not expected something like that.

"Yeah, you can imagine that I was freaked out by that. So I told him that he was weird and that I didn't want to hang out with him anymore and just left. He started yelling after me, saying that he hated me and that I should go to hell. After that I refused to see him anymore. Figured he wasn't worth it. So we graduated, went to different schools, I got some new friends, and we never really talked to each other again."

I was silent. I didn't know what I could have said at that moment.

"Well, you've got your info," he said abruptly. "I hope you like that picture." And he walked away.

That was a lot more than I ever intended to find out. Either way, though, the picture would be more than enough for Rise to identify his location. Pocketing the picture, I headed back to Junes.


	14. Chapter 14

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You continue to make your way through the mysterious dungeon.

The thick fog impairs your vision, leaving you no choice but to stumble around blindly.

Thinking back, you believe it would have been wise to accept the hero's assistance.

Then you could have been out of here, back to the place where you belong.

Back to where you can be recognized.

...

But it's all right.

You don't need him.

...

You come upon a flight of ascending stairs.

And so you ascend them.

And at the top, you see a familiar figure.

...

_*A female announcer draws near!_

The figure stands there.

You do the same.

You stare each other down for what seems like an eternity.

...

Suddenly, the figure speaks.

_***"I don't know who you are, but I'm a very busy person. If you have nothing important to say, then please leave."**_

You have no idea what she's talking about.

All you know is that she _pisses you off._

...

Suddenly, her left arm falls off.

And then her right one.

The announcer falls apart in a display of bloodless carnage.

Her body flickers for a moment before disappearing.

Then, you hear a voice.

...

_*Thou hast done well in defeating the female announcer._

_*Mitsuo hath been promoted to the next level!_

_*Thy Excitement increases by 4._

_*Thy Emptiness increases by 1._

...I did this?

Whatever. You need to move on.

You continue forward until you see another flight of stairs.

Once again, you ascend them.

At the top, you find another familiar figure waiting for you.

...

_*A corpse discoverer draws near!_

This figure seems to slowly approach you.

Then, she suddenly jerks away.

She speaks in a shrill voice.

_***"Who are you? Can't you take no for an answer?"**_

Why is she saying that?

_***"I told you, I already have a boyfriend, so just leave me alone!"**_

You don't like the words that are coming out of her mouth.

You think she needs to be quiet.

...

All of a sudden, she lets out an ear-piercing scream.

You watch as she meets the same fate as that announcer.

After her body disappears, you hear the voice again.

...

_*Thou hast done well in defeating the corpse discoverer. _

_*Mitsuo hath been promoted to the next level!_

_*Thy Sadness increases by 5._

_*Thy Emptiness increases by 8._

You wish that voice would just shut the hell up.

...

As you continue onward, you ponder for a moment.

That girl you just saw...a lot of people were sad when she died, right?

You wonder if anyone will be sad when you die.

You hope that someone will remember you after you're gone.

...And they will.

You'll see to it.

...

You wander the place for what seems like forever.

You think you're about to collapse from exhaustion.

But...in the distance, you see something.

You see another figure.

This is one that you would recognize anywhere.

_***"Wahahahahahahaha!"**_

That voice is one you know all too well.

_***"How dare you stand against me for being a bad orange!"**_

He approaches you, and from the look in his eyes, his intentions are not good.

_***"I'll make a worthless human like you taste endless pain!"**_

You don't want to hear that anymore.

You want him to go away.

Suddenly, he charges at you with his fist raised high.

Soon, he is within inches of you.

You flinch in fear, but then...

He stops.

A red liquid oozes out of him, and he collapses on top of you.

Quickly, you push him off of you, and he drops lifelessly to the ground.

The red liquid has stained your hands and clothes.

You expect him to disappear, but he doesn't.

The liquid continues to leak out of him.

He lies there, as the puddle of liquid grows larger.

The voice comes back to pester you.

...

_*Thou hast done well in killing Morooka._

You've heard it say that before.

Now, it repeats the phrase like a broken record.

You want it to shut up.

You want it to stop.

You try to wipe the liquid away, but you only succeed in smearing it all over your shirt.

The voice keeps getting louder.

...

_I understand, okay?_

_I did it._

_I did all of it!_

_Just leave me alone_!

...

You drop to your knees.

You cover your ears.

And you scream.

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	15. Chapter 15

Inside the TV World, everyone gathered around me as I held out Mitsuo's picture for them to see. Instantly, I heard murmurs of recognition among them.

"This guy came to our shop before..." Rise said quietly, in a fearful tone. "Was he...spying on me?"

Yosuke and Chie were able to recall the day he tried to ask Yukiko on a date (although Yukiko herself took some time to remember this). According to Chie, though, he had been stalking her for quite a while before that. Rise explained that he had come up to her one day and started ranting about the local biker gangs (prompting some glances in Kanji's direction), and how she had just tuned him out. I listened as they went on about the suspicious things they had heard him say.

Regardless of all that, everyone seemed to come to the same conclusion: Mitsuo was the killer we'd been searching for all this time. As much as I hated to admit it, the evidence was right in front of me. Now, our mission was to track him down.

Rise led the way as we traveled through the TV World. The area we ended up in was...rather strange. It reminded me of the games that Mitsuo wouldn't shut up about. Then again, this was his reality, so that was to be expected.

"Man, this is old-school," I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood a little.

Yosuke smiled. "Gotta admit, all guys love games."

"And all girls love Teddie!" came Teddie's cheerful response.

And with that, we charged toward the gate.

...

* * *

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You don't know where you are.

This place seems to go on forever and ever.

All you can do is walk, walk, and walk some more, and hope that eventually you'll find your way out.

...

But who cares?

What's the point?

It's not like anyone cares that you're gone.

They probably didn't even notice when you disappeared.

And the ones who did probably just shrugged their shoulders and went on with their lives.

That's the way it's always been.

...

I don't want to do this anymore.

I'm tired of it.

I'm tired...of everything.

...

But what's this?

You come to an unusually large door. The kind of door that's usually reserved for boss rooms.

You slowly walk up to it.

You push on it...

...

...Locked.

Of course.

You start to turn around, when suddenly you see something out of the corner of your eye.

Pitch-black darkness is coming from behind you.

The darkness gathers around the door.

And suddenly, the door swings wide open.

You stand there, unable to comprehend what just happened.

But then, you realize.

It could be the way out.

So what are you standing there for?

Regaining a small trace of hope, you rush through the open door...

...and that hope is dashed.

It's a huge dead end.

A giant walled-off sand pit.

There are no other doors, and you're certainly not climbing those walls.

You look around, figuring there must be some way out of here.

Then, you notice something.

A blue aura in the middle of the room.

You run toward it.

Sitting on the ground, you see what looks like another person.

You stare at it for a while before it finally acknowledges your presence.

It slowly stands up.

And when you look into its eyes, you see...

...you.

######################################

######################################

* * *

The journey through the dungeon was more difficult than I'd expected, but luckily the training we had done in the past few weeks kept us alive.

What disturbed me, though, were the voices I heard as we made progress. Each time we ascended a floor, I would hear these voices describing the victims' deaths in a game-like style. What really had me scared was when I heard Morooka's name.

"Thou hast done well in killing Morooka..."

Then it occurred to me.

That night after Morooka died...when I found Mitsuo in the street, and he kept saying those things...

...Was he actually telling the truth?

The long scream didn't really help things. And at one point, I could swear I heard something that was just a mishmash of random words. Despite my second thoughts, I forced myself to continue forward.

Finally, after hours of dungeon-crawling, we reached a large door. We stopped for a moment in order to prepare for whatever might be waiting for us.

"This is for everyone's sake," I kept reminding myself. "Even his..."

We made our final preparations before we approached the door and pushed it wide open.

* * *

######################################

######################################

You stare at "you" for a minute, not believing what you're seeing.

Then, you finally get the courage to speak.

_*"...Who...are you...?"_

The other "you" does not respond, only stares.

That makes you angry.

_*"Are you deaf? Answer me!"_

The other "you" answers quietly.

_***"Why...?"**_

Why?

Why what?

Why you're here?

Why you killed all those people?

Why you're such a pathetic loser?

...

You don't know.

You don't know much of anything anymore.

You wait for it to continue, but it doesn't.

You grow more agitated with each passing moment of silence.

...

...Why did you kill those people?

You don't really remember too well.

Could have been just for fun.

You don't remember if you had a specific reason.

All you knew was that they had to die.

They were all no good.

You were better than them.

And yet they were loved and respected by so many people.

But not you.

No one loved you.

...

It wants to know why?

You'll tell it why.

...

######################################

######################################

* * *

"...Everyone gets on my nerves! That's why I did it!"

We found Mitsuo standing there, yelling at what appeared to be his shadow self.

"Nobody even thought of me after the first two people...That's why I went after the third one!"

As he spoke, the shadow just stood there in silence.

"I killed them!"

We stood back and watched his one-sided argument. As he continued ranting and raving, the shadow said nothing at all. Mitsuo kept getting angrier.

"W-What're you all quiet for?"

The Shadow's voice came in a barely audible whisper.

"Because...I feel nothing..."

That seemed to sober Mitsuo up a little.

"What're you talking about?" he said shakily. "Make sense, dammit!"

"I..have nothing..." the shadow continued. "I am nothing..."

It was Mitsuo's turn to be silent.

"And you...are me..."

Mitsuo went pale, and it took him a while to regain himself.

"What...? What's that supposed to mean?"

Again, the shadow said nothing.

"I...I'm not nothing!" Mitsuo yelled. The way he said it suggested that that statement was more to convince himself than the shadow.

Yukiko let out a cry of concern. "No! If this keeps up..."

Mitsuo whirled around, finally aware of our presence.

"W-Who are you guys? How'd you get in here...?"

Strange...he didn't seem to recognize Yukiko or myself.

Then, I remembered the thick fog. It was probably impairing his vision, making us unrecognizable to him.

Suddenly, Kanji interjected.

"Shut the hell up! We came after you!"

Mitsuo got the strangest look on his face...

* * *

######################################

######################################

...

_***"We came after you!"**_

...

They came...after me...

They came after me...

Could it mean...

...that I succeeded?

...

A female voice speaks.

_***"Are you the killer?"**_

They came after me...

And they found me...

...

You smile.

And you laugh.

You laugh hard.

You try to make it sound as evil as possible.

That's what they want, right?

_"Of course I am! I'm the one behind everything!"_

See?

You are a killer.

You're the one they've been looking for.

You are not nothing.

And you'll make sure everyone knows it.

_"I don't give a damn what this impostor's saying!"_

You turn to the other "you".

_"You hear that? You have nothing to do with me!"_

Everyone is listening to you now. You'll tell this bastard off in front of all of them.

_"Get outta my sight!"_

He keeps his mouth shut like the little liar that he is. But he doesn't go away.

You turn back to everyone.

_"That goes for the rest of you too...Why'd you follow me all the way here?"_

You're angry.

They're not showing any fear.

They should be afraid of a killer.

Why aren't they afraid of you?

You'll prove to them that you're a killer.

Then they'll be afraid.

_"I'll kill you...I'll kill all of you!"_

You shout at them, but they don't react.

_"I can do it, you know...I can do anything!"_

You can.

You know you can.

You _know_ it...

...

Then, a small voice comes from behind you.

_***"So you don't accept me...?"**_

That goddamn impostor's still here?

Very well, he'll be the first one to go...

...

But suddenly, you feel very tired.

Losing the strength to stand up, you drop to your knees.

_"What the...?"_

Come on, don't do this now...

You need to get rid of this guy.

But you keep losing your strength...

Soon you're...starting to lose...consciousness...

Then, suddenly...pain...in your entire body...

You...hear yourself...scream...as every...thing...goes...

######################################

######################################


	16. Chapter 16

I watched as the shadows gathered overhead. With a final, piercing shout, Mitsuo fell limply to the ground. Above him, the shadows merged into the form of...

...a baby.

Everyone assumed their battle stances. I had a few qualms with attacking an infant, but I knew we had no choice.

"Get ready, everyone!" Rise cried out. "Once we beat him, this case is as good as closed!"

I was excited that we had come so far in investigating the murder case, and that we may finally have come close to solving it once and for all. I was excited that we had possibly found the killer all by ourselves, and solved a case that even the police could not.

And yet...somewhere in the back of my mind, I hoped that we were wrong.

...

######################################

######################################

...

...

...Where am I?

_*Mitsuo searches the area._

...

_*But he finds nothing._

...What?

You could have sworn that there were other people here.

Where did they go?

...

What is that?

You see an aura emanating far away from you.

However, the fog blocks your vision, so you can't see what's causing it.

You make your way through the fog as you approach the aura.

...

...oh.

It's that impostor.

He's sitting on the ground, staring at nothing.

You stare down at him, crossing your arms to show that you are in charge.

_"What the hell are you still doing here?"_

He does not respond, nor does he look up.

You're pissed now.

_"Hey, I'm talkin' to you!"_

You shake him.

Still no response.

You can barely contain your anger.

You frantically look around for something you can hit him with.

...

Then, you notice something on the ground in front of you.

It is your old baseball bat.

...

_*Mitsuo equips the Baseball Bat._

You don't know how it got here, but you don't care.

You're gonna get this impostor's attention if you have to beat it out of him.

You raise your weapon to strike...

But something knocks it out of your hand.

Before you can react, you are knocked to the ground.

You struggle to sit up so that you can see your attacker.

...

It's the hero.

######################################

######################################

* * *

Suddenly, the infant let out a shrill wail. As if on cue, some sort of shield began forming around him. It seemed to be made of the Lego-like pieces that made up the rest of this dungeon. A the pieces assembled themselves, they formed what looked like an 8-bit knight character.

I pondered for a moment. Where had I seen that character before...?

...No matter. I needed to get rid of my emotional attachments if we were going to solve this case. As much as I hated to think about it, I wasn't dealing with Mitsuo anymore. I was dealing with a killer.

I gave the command, and we began our assault.

* * *

######################################

######################################

The hero looks down at you.

He offers a hand to help you up, even though he's the one who knocked you down.

...

Is he teasing you?

Is he trying to rub his superiority in your face?

...

You get up by yourself.

That ought to knock him off his high horse.

However, he seems unfazed.

In fact, he's _smiling. _

It's a sad, pitying smile that you absolutely loathe.

_***"Come..."**_

He holds his hand out to you again.

_***"...I'll end your emptiness."**_

What is he talking about?

You back away.

He attempts to close the distance between you.

_***"There's no need to be scared. It'll be quick."**_

Quick...?

What does he mean by that?

You see him fingering his sword.

...

Oh God.

You want to run, but...you can't.

Your legs won't move.

You're helpless.

Besides, it's not like there's anywhere to go.

You're alone.

You don't know where you are.

Nobody's going to help you.

The world couldn't care less if you die right here.

So you brace yourself...and await the inevitable.

...But nothing happens.

As you look up, you see that the hero has frozen in his tracks.

Slowly, he begins to fade away.

You watch him go until there is nothing left.

...

See?

Even he's grown tired of you.

...

######################################

######################################

* * *

Finally, after bombarding it with our strongest attacks, we managed to destroy the shield. However, things were not looking good. We were all beaten pretty badly, and Yukiko was pale and trembling.

The shadow (I refused to think of it as an infant anymore) began assaulting us with powerful spells. Yukiko got the worst of it, and we had to constantly heal her. Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do to alleviate her fear. It pained me to see her so helpless and scared.

That did it. I just couldn't forgive Mitsuo for making so many people suffer. No matter what he was like before...

* * *

######################################

######################################

...

Oh, the impostor's still here.

You almost forgot about him, even though he was sitting here the entire time.

Even after what happened, he's just sitting there like nothing happened at all.

You walk up to him.

_"Hey..."_

You shake him again.

No response.

You didn't really expect one, but it still annoys the hell out of you.

He's probably doing this on purpose.

Maybe if you assert your authority, he'll listen.

You stare down at him in a manner that you hope is imposing.

First, you figure you'll ask him what you want to know.

_"What did you mean when you said I was nothing?"_

You speak loudly to let it be known that you demand an answer.

To your suprise, he looks up at you.

To be honest, you're stunned.

You are quiet for a moment.

Then, you get over your shock when you realize that he still hasn't given you what you want.

_"Answer me!"_

You shout at him.

Still no response.

_"I said answer me, dammit!"_

He keeps staring at you, but says nothing.

By this time, you are shaking with rage.

You try to form more words, but all that comes out is angry sputtering.

You look around frantically, absolutely at a loss for what to do.

And then, you notice the bat that is still in your hand.

You see the dried blood still caked on it.

...

Of course.

You won't get his attention by just shouting.

If you want him to talk, you'll have to beat him up.

He's not just going to sit there and take it. He'll have to defend himself, right?

...

You raise your weapon.

Then, you strike him over the head.

_*Mitsuo attacks!_

The blow knocks him to the ground.

You can't help but smile a little as he slowly picks himself up.

Maybe now he'll answer you, or at the very least try to fight back.

...But no. He just sits there.

_*Mitsuo attacks!_

And he just sits back up.

Why won't he answer you?

Why won't he get up and fight back?

_*Mitsuo attacks!_

He sits up again.

He doesn't even look angry.

He looks like he doesn't even care.

_*Mitsuo attacks!_

_*Critical hit!_

_*Mitsuo attacks!_

_*Critical hit!_

_*Mitsuo attacks!_

_*Critical hit!_

No matter how many times you hit him, it doesn't seem to faze him at all.

By this time, you don't care if he doesn't answer you.

You just want him to stay down.

You just want him to _die._

So he'll stop taunting you.

_*Mitsuo attacks!_

_Punishing hit!_

_*Mitsuo attacks!_

_*Punishing hit!_

_*Mitsuo attacks!_

_*Punishing hit!_

It's covered in blood, but it just won't die!

_*Mitsuo attacks!_

_*Punishing hit!_

Why won't you die!

_*Mitsuo attacks!_

_*Critical hit!_

DIE!

_*Mitsuo attacks!_

...

Just stop...

_*Mitsuo attacks!_

_*Miss!_

Stop ignoring me...

_*Mitsuo attacks!_

_*Miss!_

Please...

_*Mitsuo attacks!_

_*Miss!_

_..._

You can't see him anymore.

Everything is a blur.

You can hardly breathe.

...

You throw your weapon to the side.

You get down on your knees.

And you start shaking the life out of him.

Why?

You don't know.

It doesn't really matter what you do.

And he doesn't even try to resist.

He's almost like a doll in your hands.

...

You're crying your eyes out, but you don't care.

You don't try to hold back, even though you probably look like a big crybaby.

Who knows? Maybe if you cry, you'll catch someone's attention.

It's gotten you attention before, however brief.

...

...But no.

Nobody comes.

...

Why?

Why does no one care?

They care about everyone else.

...

Morooka...he was a total bastard, but people respected him...

The announcer...she was a cheating whore, but her death saddened a lot of people...

Konishi...she was a cold-hearted bitch, but even she had someone who loved her unconditionally...

...

But not you.

No one wants to even look at you.

You thought you had a friend once...but when you tried to show your affection for him, he turned tail and ran.

Yuki...she can't stand the sight of you.

She would rather be with some generic pretty-boy.

And that weird grey-haired kid...you thought he was different.

You were an idiot for thinking he would stick around.

You should've known he would leave you like everyone else.

Face it.

You'll always be alone.

No matter what you do.

...

But I don't want to be alone.

...

I don't wanna be alone.

I don't wanna be alone!

I don't wanna!

_I don't wanna!_

_**I don't wanna!**_

_**...**_

######################################

######################################

* * *

Suddenly, I heard the most deafening, blood-curdling scream that had ever reached my ears. The ground itself seemed to shake from the volume of the noise. It seemed to go on for an eternity before it finally ceased. As it did, I saw Yukiko drop helplessly to the floor. I knew we had to beat this thing fast. Fortunately, it looked like it didn't have much strength left.

We attacked with what little strength we had. We were all growing exhausted from the long battle.

At last, the shadow fell from its pixellated throne and onto the ground.

"Now's our chance!" Yosuke declared, turning to me. "You ready?"

I nodded. At my command, we assaulted it without mercy.

The last of its strength seemingly depleted, it deteriorated until it was nothing more than a blackened husk. I let out a lengthy sigh.

We had done it.

...But at what cost?


	17. Chapter 17

The team and I stood in silence as Mitsuo slowly came to. Standing up, he looked around at all of us. Judging by his confused expression, he still did not seem to recognize any of us.

"Finally awake, huh?" Yosuke shot at him. "You've been a major pain in our ass!"

It took a while for Mitsuo to respond.

"You guys..." he said quietly, with a tone of fear. "Wh-Who the hell are you guys?" It was as if he believed we were some sort of fantastical creatures. Considering what had happened recently, I couldn't hold it against him.

"We came here to talk to you," I told him. He stared at me with a look of amazement.

"...Talk? ...to me?"

He sounded as if he had been asked to be on a live talk show or something.

"The police are after you," Yosuke explained. "They think you're the one who killed King Moron and the others." Mitsuo gave him a blank stare. "So? Are you the killer?"

Mitsuo stared down at the floor. "All the cases..." he whispered to himself. "All on me..." We watched curiously as we waited for him to give his answer.

Suddenly, he started to laugh.

"That's right...I did it!"

_This is unbelievable, _I thought. _Why would he do something like that and just laugh? _

"You piece of shit!" Kanji spat at him. But he wasn't finished.

"And not just that bastard Morooka...That stupid announcer, and the Konishi bitch, too!" he yelled triumphantly. "I killed all of them! It was all me!"

His shadow, who had been silent all this time and who we had hardly even noticed, suddenly dissolved into a cloud of purple smoke, which then dissipated, leaving nothing there. This put the rest of the team on edge, but Mitsuo only smiled.

"Haha...that frickin' monster's gone..." he laughed, after which he batted at the air, as though trying to punch out the nonexistant shadow. "Take that, son of a bitch..."

Suddenly, his legs gave out and he dropped to his knees.

"He's exhausted..." said Rise with what little concern any of them could muster. "We have to hurry and get him out of here." With that, the team started to make for the exit.

Yosuke stayed behind for a brief moment. "Think you can handle this, partner?" he asked me, giving Mitsuo a look of disdain. "I really don't wanna have to look at him."

I nodded, and Yosuke thanked me before rejoining the rest of the team. Slowly and cautiously, I approached Mitsuo, who was staring silently at the ground. He didn't seem to notice me coming toward him. Or maybe he just didn't care. I held out my hand.

"Stand up," I commanded. He slapped my hand away and stood up on his own. He was still looking down at the floor.

There was so much I wanted to know right now. Why did he do all of this? What reason would he have for killing three people? And most importantly, why didn't he seem to feel at all sorry for what he did? I wanted to ask him all of this, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

So that display of emotion after Morooka's death...Was it just a lie?

"Come on," I said simply. When he looked up at me, it sent chills up my spine. There was only one emotion I could see in the stare that he gave me.

_Hatred._

"Seta-kun, what's taking you so long? We need to hurry!" Yukiko called after me. Without another word, I grabbed Mitsuo's arm and dragged him along behind me.

...

######################################

######################################

...

The next thing you know, you are sitting on the ground.

People are surrounding you.

You still can't see very well, so you don't know who they are.

_"Where...am I?"_

One of the taller ones speaks up.

_***"This is the real world."**_

What the hell does that mean?

Who are these people?

Did they bring you here?

_"Why am I here...Who the hell are you guys?"_

An annoying high-pitched voice speaks up.

You turn to listen.

And there you see...some kind of bear-thing. Or at least the outline of one.

_***"You seem confused from everything that happened. But we have a bunch of questions for you."**_

You don't hear his questions.

You're having a hard time trying not to laugh at his...beariness.

_"What the hell...Is that some kind of costume?"_

The bear-thing shuts its trap.

"_Haha...What a loser...Get out of my face, you freak..."_

The bear-thing's agitation is almost palpable.

_***"F-Freak? Grr!"**_

He continues to make inarticulate noises of shock and rage.

...

Haha.

Now he knows how it feels.

...

One of the faceless people manages to pacify him.

Another of them speaks.

_***"...Did you really do it?"**_

Oh, how you hate hearing that question.

But that voice sounds somewhat...familiar.

_"Get off my back...I already told you...I did it..."_

You would yell at him, but you find it a little hard to talk.

A female voice speaks up.

_***"Why? How could you do such a thing?"**_

Aww, she's sad.

She sounds like she's about to cry.

...

What a load of horse shit.

If she had to go through one tenth of the hell you've suffered, her tears would fill five lakes.

Then she'd know how the fuck you could do such a thing.

...

Another female voice speaks.

_***"Three people are dead because of you!"**_

This one is angry.

...

...because of you.

She's angry because of you.

The other girl is sad because of you.

All of them are here...because of _you_.

...

You laugh.

You laugh hard.

Because you finally did it.

You finally got someone to pay attention to you.

It took you so long...but you finally did it.

After a while, you compose yourself.

_"Everybody's talking about it, right?"_

No one answers you.

_"It's a big deal...and I did it! All of it...all by myself..."_

One of the male voices speaks.

Your vision has cleared a little, and you can see that he is wearing headphones.

And he yells at you.

_***"You just wanted the attention?"**_

Oh, he has no idea how much you wanted the attention.

...

But no.

That's not all you wanted.

...

...care.

You wanted someone to care about you.

You wanted them to care about what you did.

No matter what it was.

...And not just that.

You wanted them to care that _you_ did it.

...

You hear a third female voice.

_***"Then why did you target me and the others? How did you kidnap us?"**_

You turn your head to the owner of the voice.

And you recognize it.

How could you not?

It's the person you've watched and admired day after day.

The one you most desperately wanted to look at you.

...

Well, you've succeeded.

You chuckle a little.

_"Whoa, look who it is...Hey, Yuki..."_

She does not deny it.

"_After all this time, now you wanna talk to me..."_

You laugh again.

"_Haha...what bullshit..."_

Again, she does not deny it.

Instead, she gets angry.

_***"Answer me! If you held a grudge against me, that's fine...but why the others?"**_

Aww, how cute.

She'll look for any excuse to talk to you now that you took away someone she cared about.

_"What a joke...you're so desperate it hurts..."_

That shuts her up.

_"I didn't care who I attacked...everyone pisses me off..."_

Everyone pisses me off...

Even you, Yuki...

You and your fifteen pretty-boy lovers can rot in hell for all I care...

...

The headphone-wearing guy yells at you again.

_***You killed Senpai over nothing? You son of a bitch!"**_

Then, yet another voice speaks to you.

_***"I hope you're ready to get what's coming to you."**_

You see that it belongs to a muscular, punk-looking guy.

He grabs you by the collar, standing you up.

He looks at you with a menacing glare.

...

Oooh, I'm so scared.

_"What, are you gonna kill me?"_

Don't make me laugh.

I can just kill you first.

I can do that, remember?

_***"Kill you? It ain't gonna be that easy, you piece of shit."**_

...

...See?

You are a piece of shit.

You're not nothing.

That impostor was a dirty liar.

...

The punk guy spouts some garbage about owning up to your crimes, but by this time, you're not even listening.

The headphone guy cries over his precious Senpai.

After the punk guy says something to him, he gets out his phone. Probably to call the police.

The others crowd around him, trying to comfort him.

How sweet.

But one of them does not join the rest.

He walks over to you.

...

It's him...that grey-haired kid.

So he came crawling back after all.

He stares down at you, but he doesn't say anything.

His face shows none of the hatred or disgust that the others did.

...

_"See..I told you...I'm not nothing..."_

His expression doesn't change.

Then, he says something.

_***"You never were 'nothing'."**_

...

You don't have anything to say to that.

He turns around and is about to walk away.

...

Wait...

There's something you want to know.

"_Hey..."_

He turns back to you.

...

You can't believe what you're about to ask him.

"_When I die...will you miss me?"_

...

He smiles a little.

_***"Of course I will."**_

...

You laugh.

"_Yeah, right...You're just talking out of your ass..."_

He doesn't respond.

...

The police come to take you away.

As they're escorting you out, you can sense him staring after you.

His stare bores into you.

...

He _hates_ you.

You know it.

...

And you know what?

You don't blame him.

...

You laugh.

You've been doing that a lot lately.

But you don't care.

You laugh so hard that you're crying.

The officers look at you like you're some lunatic.

And you probably are.

But you don't care.

...

You don't care.

You don't...

...

You laugh until you can't anymore.

But even after you're done laughing, the tears won't stop...

######################################

######################################


End file.
